It could be argued that Germany is the "birthplace of European intellectual journalism"¹. However, media in Germany has had to endure frustration and trauma in achieving such high standing in the journalistic world; suffering the "fragmentation of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries"¹, restrictions born of censorship and political control of the "long period of stultifying authoritarianism and relative economic stagnation"¹ of that time. Moreover, the Bismarck period, despite the first government thereof introducing the allegedly "'liberating' [sic]" `Reichspressegesetz' (Imperial Press Law) "was hardly liberal... Above all, the limited `liberalisation' of the press law reflected the rising power and influence of the industrial and commercial middle classes"². However, it would be the effects of the dictatorship and censorship of the Third Reich that would ultimately shatter, and the Allied Occupation of Germany which would help rebuild and redevelop the media of the defeated country. In this essay, I intend to outline the fundamental principles which aided the development of the media in Western Germany, with particular emphasis on press media, during the time of the Allied occupation up until approximately 1955.
Firstly, to understand the developments, one must first be aware of the circumstances in which Germany found herself in the aftermath of World War II. Hitler's propaganda machine, overseen by the master of propaganda himself, Josef Göbbels and the backing of the media mogul Alfred Hugenberg, the National Socialist publishing house, the `Eher Verlag', had "become the largest
¹ - `Media & Media Policy in Western Germany, P J Humphries pp13
² - `Media & Me...
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... illustrates the development of the German media, as influence by the Allied occupation period.
Finally, by 1955 the `Springer Verlag' had been founded by the `modern' media mogul Axel Springer, who not only has `Die Welt' in his possession, but in addition the `Bild-Zeitung', and another popular paper, the `Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung' had also been established. 13.4 million papers were in circulation by this point. Overall it is evident that the Allied intentions were for the media in Germany to be of a "free and pluralist" nature, and it is clear that the press "of the present day German Federal Republic is almost entirely a creation of the post-War years."
¹ - `Mass Media' John Sanford, pp 28
² - `Mass Media' John Sanford, pp 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY
`Mass Media' Peter J Humphries
`Media and Media Policy in Western Germany' John Sanford
This investigation evaluates the significance of the role the media played in helping the Allie Forces win World War Two. To be specific, World War Two occurred between the years of 1939 to 1945. A brief synopsis of the developments of media outlets and their importance prior to the war will be investigated. Leaders of all the Allie Forces will be evaluated in this essay. The essay will focus primarily on the rise of media impact on the citizens of the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The Soviet Union will be mentioned but only minor. Two of the sources used in this essay Freedom Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War Two by Arthur Herman and World War II in Europe by World Book: Chicago are evaluated and used in this essay.
?The effect of such incessant propaganda was to promote hysterical hatred of all things German.?# Any individual who had the audacity to speak against the war was assaulted either verbal or physically, and on many occasions murdered.
Hagen W (2012). ‘German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation’. Published by Cambridge University Press (13 Feb 2012)
Prior to the Nazi takeover of Germany, the nation had been suffering deeply. An economic depression, large-scale unemployment, and the shame of losing World War I had put Germany in a dark place. The Nazi’s were incredibly aware of this, and their propaganda at the time reflected a need to reunite the German people. Propaganda appealed to national pride, and putting ones country before themselves. Of course, a strong united people needed a leader that was just as strong, and the “myth of Hitler” would create that leader. Slogans like “One People, one Fuhrer, one Reich!” promoted national unity, and a Wochenspruch from February 1938 states, “The greatest of all sacrifices is to give one’s life to preserve the existence of the community.” Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will comes from this time period and helps form the mythological image of Hitler. Propaganda also focused on the good the Nazi party was doing. It discussed how well the Nazi welfare system was working, newsreels showed happy German people enjoying the benefits of the Nazi regime.
The main purpose of the book was to emphasize how far fear of Hitler’s power, motivation to create a powerful Germany, and loyalty to the cause took Germany during the Third Reich. During the Third Reich, Germany was able to successfully conquer all of Eastern Europe and many parts of Western Europe, mainly by incentive. Because of the peoples’ desires and aspirations to succeed, civilians and soldiers alike were equally willing to sacrifice luxuries and accept harsh realities for the fate of their country. Without that driving force, the Germans would have given up on Hitler and Nazism, believing their plan of a powerful Germany...
...se through means of persuasion. Propaganda was the second most powerful means of getting support within Germany, but it was most effective in getting foreigners to stand bye idly while the Nazi's committed their crimes against the Jews and other minorities. Germany received respect from the foreign press for its efficiency in the Olympics, which was a precursor to the `efficiency' they showed in slaughtering millions of innocent captives in concentration camps. Yet the Nazi's, lead by their charismatic leader, were able to pass their laws in a legitimate fashion, and persuade the world to look the other way. The world stood by in fear and awe, hoping the storm would just blow over, but by September 1939 Hitler and the Nazi's had progressed too far, and there was no stopping them from undertaking in what would be the most lethal war in the history of the world.
Overseas News 21. "Modern World History: Nazi Germany." British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 November 2001 < http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/nazi/nazihtm.htm >.
With Hitler 's rise to power in 1933 the organized prosecution of the jews began ("Nazi Propaganda"). The Propaganda Ministry was established almost immediately after HItler’s rise to power on 13 March 1933,” ("Ministry Of Public Enlightenment"): When Hitler created the ministry of public enlightenment he named Joseph Goebbels in charge of it all. Their aim was to ensure the nazi message was successfully communicated through every type of communication possible, ( "Nazi Propaganda"). “Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on a whole population: Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea,” ("Nazi Propaganda"). The agency was made by Nazi’s to show superior to others ("Ministry Of Public Enlightenment"). The ministry grew over the years, in 1933 the ministry had 350 employees. By 1939 there were 2,000 employees and between 1933 and 1941, the ministry’s budget grew from 14 million to 187 million ("Ministry Of Public Enlightenment"). When Germany’s war was about to be lost, Hitler was hiding in a bunker with one Nazi official by his side, Joseph Goebbels was that Nazi official (“Joseph Goebbels”). Joseph Goebbels was considered Hitler’s best friend, which is why Goebbels was in charge of the most important factor of Hitler’s gain to power, Nazi
Marquis, Alice Goldfarb, ‘Words as Weapons: Propaganda in Britain and Germany during the First World War’, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 3. (1978), pp. 467-498.
The author provides a rough timeline of the objective norm emerging in American journalism, and explains the inner origin of these co...
The German Democratic Republic(GDR) was formed after World War II when the Soviet Union occupied the eastern half of Germany, while the United States, Britain and France occupied the western half. The GDR was under communist regime and heavily regulated by the Soviets. Films, books, newspapers, and other forms of media were censored and the authors were told what they could and could not write about. Suprisingly, Ulrich Plenzdorf’s book, “The News Sufferings of Young W”, was received well by the public due to its criticisms of the GDR. The criticism is quite subtle in the novel, but enough to illustrate how the general
MODERN HISTORY – RESEARCH ESSAY “To what extent was Nazi Germany a Totalitarian state in the period from 1934 to 1939?” The extent to which Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state can be classed as a substantial amount. With Hitler as Fuhrer and his ministers in control of most aspects of German social, political, legal, economical, and cultural life during the years 1934 to 1939, they mastered complete control and dictation upon Germany. In modern history, there have been some governments, which have successfully, and others unsuccessfully carried out a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is one in which a single ideology is existent and addresses all aspects of life and outlines means to attain the final goal, government is run by a single mass party through which the people are mobilized to muster energy and support.
...erhards and Mike S. Schäfer called ‘Is the internet a better public sphere? Comparing old and new media in the US and Germany’, it showed that old media outlets such as radio and newspapers have a more balanced structure when it comes to opinions and comments, whereas the public sphere on the internet can be a lot more radical and partial. “ In countries such as Germany and the USA, freedom of the press and freedom of opinion are widely guaranteed. Therefore, print media communication is relatively open and balanced (even though Habermas and other critics do refer to German and other western media as power-regulated)”. (Is the internet a better public sphere? Comparing old and new media in the US and Germany, 2014). The articles that I have found do represent this in a few of them, but the most of them are showing negatively as the opinions In them aren’t balanced.
The media forms the basis of the society. It has evolved through the ages and will continue to do so as new technologies and ideologies form. Wherever one goes they are faced with different forms of media and in present times this has become even more prevalent. New media and Technology is something that has become extremely prominent and important within modern society. It allows one to gather, produce and distribute news in various manners. For decades now, technology has continued to progress. Convergence of traditional and new media is constantly changing and causes the world to become smaller and the distribution of messages has become more efficient. The emergence of new media has allowed the concept of Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere to expand. The potential of new media to bring about social, political and economic development is abundant. Society depends on the synergy between civil society and the public sphere. This essay will explore the relationship between society and the public sphere. It will explain the positives and negatives of the public sphere and new media, with relevant examples. So too it will display how the public sphere continues to transform as a result of the constant changes and prevalence of new media and technology.
Media revolution is transforming, fundamentally and irrevocably, the nature of journalism and its ethics. This means to publish is now in the hands of citizen, while the Internet encourages new forms of journalism that are interactive and immediate. The first media revolution era occurred after Sir Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable press, which let the country to gain effective distributing power of mass media back in the 15th century without the need to go to places from places. Ever since then society is able to gain more knowledge and more informed. With petty press introduced too, print media became affordable for the society to